The 19-year-old Lincoln University student accidentally revealed there were drugs hidden in the phone’s case when police overheard him in the background of a call to the lost phone.
Sergeant Matt Lee, of Dunedin, said police were patrolling along Castle St during yesterday’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations when they were handed a lost phone by a member of the public about 1.30pm.
A friend of the phone’s owner later called the phone and made arrangements with police for its return.
However, the friend ‘‘failed to hang up the phone’’, Sgt Lee said.
‘‘Police heard reluctance from the owner of the phone before the call ended, that he didn't want to get his phone from police as he had ketamine pills in the back of it.’’
Police then discovered the drugs hidden under the phone case.
The phone’s owner, a 19-year-old Lincoln University student, was down in Dunedin to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with his friends, Sgt Lee said.
‘‘He eventually came to police to collect his phone and received a formal warning.’’
The ketamine was seized and destroyed, Sgt Lee said.
